Share an excerpt of no more than Fifteen sentences from your family friendly book in the comment section below. Make sure to post a buy link—I want others to find your work!

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My sample is from The Case of the Puppet Constable. Available for only 99 cents at Amazon.​https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DG19DFW

​“Congratulations on a job well done, Constable Roskin.”

Emmett turned at the deep baritone of Fortescue Cunning. The young fellow had recently received the title of Baron of Eure. Lucky bloke.

Cunning sipped at a glass of sherry and Emmett’s collar tightened like a noose about his neck. Few in high society knew of his past, fewer still would dare to share it about the ton, but Cunning wasn’t one of them. He’d sell his mother’s soul to the devil if he thought he’d make a pence. Did he know?

“Do tell me how you discovered Tyrrel’s involvement in stealing the Crusader’s Cross.”

Emmett pointed a trembling finger in Hesper’s direction. Confidence, he needed to display more confidence.

“Ah, so the self-absorbed Miss Rotherham brought the plot to your attention.”

​The statement held the hint of a question. Emmett swallowed and nodded. His lips quivered. “Aye.”

Next I tried out for Little League and am convinced to this day that the only reason I was picked for a team is that my best friend’s father was our manager. Growing up 12 miles from Fenway baseball was a very big deal in Lexington and I was determined to give it my best shot. Opening day was a major event with a parade through the center of town and players from all the teams lining both baselines (think opening day at Fenway for all its pomp and circumstance and you wouldn’t be far off). There is where it went from bad to worse. My shiny, new all-white uniform had arrived in the mail. I was so excited to try it on and then so sad when the pants did not fit. My late mother, in her infinite wisdom, decided (glad you are not here to read this Ma) she could fix them; so I let her give it a shot, but all she had was gray material to use. So what ended up happening was that 100 Little League baseball players lined the first and third baselines at the Center Field in Lexington, and 99 had perfectly pressed sparkling white uniform pants. I had white pants with a large gray patch directly in the center of the posterior. With a last name of Guernsey (rhymes with cow) and being rotund in places where I shouldn’t have been, the laughter and humiliation were complete.

A loud, deafening roar pierced his eardrums, and he felt the ground beneath him shake. James whirled around and found himself face to face with the most ferocious creature he had ever seen.

He had never encountered a dragon before, but he had heard all the stories about them from other knights at the castle. Nothing he had been told prepared him for this sight.

An enormous and fierce green dragon with thick, scaly skin glared at him. The dragon, at least twenty feet tall, swished its long tail back and forth, and each time the tail hit the wall of the cave, the room shook. James noticed that the tail ended in a sharp point, just like a spear.

The dragon roared again, and flames spewed from its mouth, while huge puffs of smoke seeped out of its nostrils. When the dragon opened its mouth, James saw that its teeth were sharp and jagged. His legs trembled. He could hear his knees as they knocked together, and for a moment he thought he was going to faint.

As the dragon inched closer, James took a step back and then moved to the left. The dragon did the same. He dashed to the right and so did the dragon.

Reply

Rachel John

2/3/2017 09:15:41 am

This is from my 99 cent parody novella: A Zombie Love Story. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXGGUF0

“Come on, Azure. Let’s get to class.”

I took a step, but Azure didn’t move. Her eyes were locked on Cobalt’s face, waiting for him to meet her eyes.

“Can you tell your friend to stop staring? It’s creeping me out.”

“Sorry. She hasn’t been the same since Mr. Crimson’s party.”

Cobalt put a hand up, like a shade against the brightness of her gaze, and turned to me. “You went to the vamp’s party?” A look of understanding crossed his face and he side-stepped across the wall, putting distance between us. “Scarlett, you are like a powerful bad luck charm. So I’m going to politely ask you to not talk to me again. You’re beyond my help.”

“Well, I never asked for your help,” I yelled at his retreating back. “And that wasn’t polite!”

Azure sucked in a ragged breath. “He’s amazing, and oh, so doomed. Do you know where he lives?”

Now JJ’s kidnapper was in the checkout line, waiting as an elderly cashier tried to make conversation. Eunie Mae looked out the window one more time. Could it be . . .

Yes! A pigeon was sitting on a sign right outside the grocery store.

She waited until the automatic doors opened for a young woman leaving the store, then flew through them. As much as she didn’t want to leave JJ alone with that woman for even a second, this might be her only chance. She flew to the roof of the woman’s car and called out to the messenger, who flew down to sit a few inches from her.

I’m so glad to finally find you! Eunie Mae thought. A woman has taken a child who isn’t hers from the Dunn County Fair in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Zorins are involved. One entered her at the fair, and a second replaced the first within the last half hour.

The messenger cocked his head. Eunie Mae understood his confusion. A Zorin could only remain on Earth for four hours. After that it had to return to its home in the forbidden segment of Fiori or it would die. While it was possible for other Zorins to take over after the first one departed, they almost never did that. Humans who had been inhabited once were more arduous to control.

Reply

Bethany Swafford

2/3/2017 09:51:08 am

A Chaotic Courtship by Bethany Swafford

A Regency New Adult book excerpt:

“Do you waltz?”

The question caused my cheeks bright red, I’m sure. Some of my most fondest memories were of having dancing lessons with a master at the Knighton’s home. I had learned the waltz, as every young lady did. It was not performed in our little community, but every young lady hopes for the opportunity to go to London and gain permission there.

Clearing my throat, I said, “I learned a few years ago, yes.”

“I think I would like to waltz with you, Miss Forester.”

I stumbled and Mr. Richfield steadied me. “This appears to have become a habit between you and I, Miss Forester,” he said with a smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” He lifted his hand and mine to the correct position. His other hand moved to my waist. He took one step, and I moved on instinct, bringing my left hand up to his shoulder.

Smiling down at me, Mr. Richfield began to lead me through the waltz, spinning me through the trees.

Guitar music began, playing a song Andrea had never heard before. With the first words, her eyes popped open. Her room was flooded with the man’s plaintive wail declaring very clearly and very emphatically, with no room left for doubt, precisely where it was he’d rather be. Home.

The song continued with Bobby’s mournful voice dreaming about his family and friends he’d left behind. He sang the refrain again, then began talking about hopping a freight train back home to his loved ones.

As the song ended with the refrain fading off, Andrea sobbed, “I wanna go home...” and cried herself to sleep.

“Just get up now and go. Don’t look, just don’t.” Megan pulled on her sandals and picked up her towel.
“Okay. Seriously. What shouldn’t I look at?” Kinsley asked after seeing Megan stare down the beach.
How could Kinsley not look? Megan was known to be overly dramatic. She recalled the day Megan called the police before she tried to break up a so-called riot at her neighbor’s house, only to find out it was a barbecue fund-raiser party for the police department. Trying to explain her actions that day did not make her any friends, so looking, when Megan said not to, was the obvious choice.
“Oh, crap, you looked.” Megan sighed, then reached over and rubbed Kinsley’s shoulder in comfort. “You okay?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah. Fine. No problem.” Kinsley chewed on her lower lip and tears welled in the
back of her eyes.

Thanks so much for your graciousness in opening up your blog.
Hearts Landing
A Christian romance
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NACDI8J

Every time Keziah walked through the doors of Galaxy Casino’s corporate offices, she could almost taste the money. The lobby recreated the interior of the Sistine Chapel, right down to the fresco paintings on its 12,000 square-foot vaulted ceiling, with one major difference. Where Michelangelo honored God, Galaxy honored money.

Instead of a literal reproduction of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Douglas Radner III, president and CEO of Galaxy, expelled his two lowest performers. Christ and his disciples at the Last Supper became Doug seated with his top twelve revenue producers for the year. Known collectively as the wall of shame and the wall of fame, employees vied all year to avoid the former and earn their seat at the latter’s most exclusive of tables.

In two weeks, at the company’s New Year’s Eve party, Doug would unveil the wall’s newest members. From her first day at Galaxy, Keziah dreamed of being immortalized as one of Doug’s disciples. After ten years, it looked like her dream might finally come true. That she'd become the first African-American and one of only a handful of women to make the wall was a bonus.

Doug’s office overlooked the Las Vegas strip. Keziah, Jake: Keziah's assistant, and Doug, sat around the inlaid-wood conference table for their weekly meeting on Hearts Landing, Galaxy’s newest casino project. Pulling this off would earn Keziah her rightful place on the wall.

She’d just finished the financial projections—which looked better every time she ran them—and was gathering her things to leave when Doug said, “Tell me you have this SOT under control.”

The evening had already been harrowing with the abduction of her dearest friend from that very ballroom mere moments earlier, but it already felt like eons. After she had left it in the Duke of Wrentham’s hands there had been nothing she could do to help. She had no desire to stand about wringing her hands so she was making every effort to remain calm, keeping up appearances in order to prevent Rose’s absence from becoming common knowledge, in an effort to preserve her reputation. The last thing Elizabeth needed was to be seen conversing with the controversial earl. But despite every instinct shrieking for her to leave the man’s presence on the instant, she forced herself to meet his eye as she bade him good night.

His handsome face always made her blink. Well defined, with a sharp jaw and angular cheekbones. His skin looked smooth, as though he had just left the ministrations of his valet. His wide set eyes were a unique color, somewhere between blue and green, and leant an air of watchful intelligence to his beauty. She wondered if he found it amusing to be constantly faced with wide-eyed women or if he had become immune to it. Perhaps he took it as his due, Elizabeth thought absently, before she refocused her attention. She ought to be keeping her wits about her. Exhaustion from the evening’s turmoil was dulling her senses.

Available wherever ebooks are sold, including Amazon: http://amzn.to/29VRzDO

I sighed deeply. “Oh Absalom. Why did you have to climb a tree?” I braced his head and back with my arms and set the cup of willow bark tea to his lips. “Here, son. Drink this. It eases the pain.”
A few drops of the brown liquid slipped between his lips. He rested easier after that, though he moaned pitifully in his sleep. Bilhah pulled a stool to the side of his bed and sat be-side him. She clasped his hand in hers and spoke to him.
We prayed for him, kneeling by his bed. Adam placed his hands on his head and blessed him to mend. I sat with Bilhah, watching him thrash in his sleep, waiting for him to wake. At night, Adam picked her sleeping body up and car-ried her to bed. Awake, she refused to leave her beloved brother’s side.